Beverages/Generic: Big K sodas

You can find Big K sodas at Kroger groceries. I've been a fan of their variety, taste, and relative cheapness for some time now. However, not all Big K soda is created equal.

Tastes good to me:

• Big K Orange Soda - There are two empty cans of this stuff sitting on my desk right now. To my tongue, it's got a bit more mellowed out taste than name brand orange sodas. To someone elses platter, it may seem as a little flat. I enjoy more fruit than bite.
• Big K Root Beer - It's not as full-flavored as the more expensive stuff, but I'm still all about it. Once again, it's pretty mellow-tasting.
• Big K "Dr. K" - This Dr. Pepper clone tastes about the same as it's expensive competitor. Unlike the root beer and orange soda, it does have a good bit of carbonated bite.
• Big K "Citrus Drop" - It does taste somewhat like Mountain Dew, but I like it a bit better. I don't have a good reason, either.
• Big K Grape Soda - I love fruit flavored soda. This stuff is tasty, but has some bite to it.

Not so fond:

• Big K Cola - I generally steer away from most colas... and this one is no different. However, it's just fine to mix drinks. (Much cheaper too...)
• Big K diet sodas - I rather dislike diet soda, but Big K diet soda is a new level of bad. The taste reminds me of drinking a room temperature, watered down non-diet soda.
• Big K *diet* Koolers - Koolers are pretty much non-carbonated sugar drinks in a can. Some of the non-diet ones are kinda good. The diet versions can be downright un-drinkable. I had a diet lemonade Kooler that was positively sour. I had a friend (who swears by diet drinks) have a sip. She had to spit it out.

You may be wondering how I get all these flavors without buying a 12-pack of every variety. It's quite simple. I buy the store wrapped (gigantic) packs of assorted Big K drinks. Whenever a 12-pack busts, they save back the good cans. This seems very common as the aluminum cans they use are a good bit thinner and more fragile than name-brand sodas. You can pick up a 24-pack for about $1.99, last I checked.

If you are determined, you can switch some flavors around between the wrapped giant packs and get exactly what you want. Nobody wants diet lemondade.

Click/Generic: what i've been looking at

Humor:

A friend pointed me toward the "Lasagna Cat" videos on YouTube. Yes, I'm aware they've been around for awhile. I'm slow. If you have been left out of the mix like I was, here's a light summary: Garfield comics acted out. A homemade music video follows.

Some of the videos make me laugh. Others nearly make me soil myself.



Website: http://www.lasagnacat.com/

Stuff I Feed Bad About Liking:

Today, I downloaded Joost. It lets you see TV shows and stuff over a legal P2P network. I was expecting something that would lag my computer and install browser "toolbars" without permission.

Although I didn't go crazy searching for spyware, I can say that Joost runs surprisingly well and is positively full of content. I even saw some Scissor Sisters videos I'd never seen anywhere else.

The video is rather high quality and the user interface is downright easy to use.

The downside? You still have to sit through commercials. Also, I'm sure they made it hard to copy the videos to any other source.

I hate liking something that seems to have such corporate approval, but I'm afraid they may have done a good job this time. If you want to keep people from pirating your material, make it easier to legally access.

Website: http://www.joost.com/

Good stuff on TV (described for the television attention span):

Transamerican Love Story - trans batchelorette , dating reality show that doesn't take itself seriously, loads of fun, look up the first episode on Joost (see above) or catch it on Logo

The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy - deadpan kids show, beautiful animation, lots of intellectual humor, some adult humor (i.e. references to "Mom and Dad's 'special DVD'"), clowns hate tangelos, look for it on Cartoon Network

Those Snickers Commercials - fun costumes, robin hood, viking, pilgrim, the feast

ShamWow! Commercials - talking fast about a towel, woman claiming it changed her life, made in germany (a country known for towels?), enthusiasm over cleaning, call now?

Personal/Generic: where have i been?

So I'm back on summer break. Good 'ol hometown. There's not a lot to do here, but it is home. This last semester went well. Some of my comics have been published in the editorial section of the school newspaper, which has an estimated circulation of 30,000 people. I'm not sure the number is totally accurate, but anything within 10,000 of that number is OK with me.

I figured some more things out about myself, too. It's all a tad private, but I will say it's gone very well.

Having said all that, I'm ready to get back to blogging.